A quick visit to Yorkshire last weekend saw us visiting Bempton. To my eyes it looked like the number of Gannets was significantly down from last year, but there will be a census to confirm or deny that. There are still loads there, though. The effects of bird flu were in evidence though: black staining of the iris of Gannets’ eyes has been shown to be associated with recovery from bird flu. A small proportion of birds showed black or blackened eyes. Whether that’s because the colony had low incidence of bird flu, or the mortality is such that relatively few birds recover, I haven’t a clue. Here’s a sample of eyes.
Birds, wildlife and travel